Youth Conference

This last weekend we went to the Ward Youth Conference, since Kyle is an advisor in the Priest Quorum. It was quite interesting to do with a 1-year-old. It's a lot different than the Youth Conferences I remember. It was just the ward. And there were no dances. Weird huh? And there were about 35 youth. Anyway...We went down to Fairview Utah, where a member in the ward has a ranch house with horses and other ranch stuff.

So, the girls slept in the house, and the boys and other leaders slept outside, in tents or just outside. So, we did a little camping for the weekend.

The first day they all went to the Temple to do baptisms, came back for lunch, then we went to Genoa, Ut for a Service Project. We cleaned up a playground for an elementary school for children that are illegal immigrants, I think. They were all spanish kids. And the bus said "Migrant bus." Anyway, the playground was all overgrown weeds, and it was dirty and sad. After we were done with it, it was beautiful. They also gave us Horchata with strawberries in it....yummy.




Next day we went to a state park...basically a lake. They had the kids in groups and they had them build boats like Nephi, using only materials provided like inner tubes, doors, and rope. They had a gimp person that couldn't help at all, a murmurer like Leman and Lemuel, and a blind person. It was really fun to watch them build these boats. Then they had to go a certain distance in the water and come back without getting certain items wet. That was fun. Then they had all those inner tubes and they rented a few canoes and just played out in the water for a few hours.




That night after dinner they had the kids do a blind walk. The night before they did this where certain people were leaders and they had to lead the groups in a field blindfolded, and they had to trust and listen and have faith. So, this blind walk was different because they had them walk over a mile, blindfolded, to symbolize the Nephites in 3 days of darkness before Christ came, to help the youth get a feel for a long period of time in darkness. They had people like the Bishop, YW president, and other leaders like that leading each group, and they could only lead using their voices. When they got to the top, they shined a flashlight in their eyes, with the blindfolds on, to show that it was a special place. Then they took off everyone's blindfolds and they had campfires and the bishop spoke about coming to Christ. Then they had a testimony meeting and all but 2 of the youth bore their testimonies.
Saturday we just packed up, ate breakfast, and Kyle gave a devotional/spiritual thought about overcoming temptations, and obedience with exactness. He used Teancum as an example who stabbed Amaleki in the heart, killed him, and then stabbed Ammoron near the heart, which didn't kill him, and the guard woke up and killed Teancum. So, if you just skirt around a temptation, it can come back easier. But if you stop it right away, it's less likely to come back. And that they need to be proactive in being examples and for standing up for what is right.
Anyway, this is a long post, but I was very touched by the strength of the spirits and testimonies of these kids. I am so glad we got to go too. I really love our ward.

Pics of Hallee!

So we just had some pictures taken of Hallee yesterday from this Photographer that I won a photo contest with. Everyone NEEDS to go look at a sneak preview of Hallee and the wonderful photography skills of Melissa Davis. Here are the links.

http://melissadavisphotography.com/blog

AND

HERE!!

for the rest of the pics of Hallee and us!

Oh yes, and today we found out..........We are having another GIRL!!!!!!

Independence Day fun!

So, Kyle was actually able to get off work Friday night, so we considered watching Myley Cyrus at Stadium of fire....not really. We decided to go up to Park City where at the Park City Resort they do fireworks. Kyle's grandma has a condo up there, so we went up after Kyle's day shift, and we ate dinner, went swimming, then went over to watch the fireworks. It was amazing! You get to sit on the bottom ski run, on some blankets, and the fireworks feel like they are on top of you and will fall right on you. It was great! I haven't seen fireworks that close up in a long time. And, Hallee did great, and enjoyed the fireworks too! Oh yeah, and this Friday we get to find out (hopefully) what we are having!!

Hallee's Birthday party

Hey go to gallery.mac.com/kyle_payne to see pics from Hallee's birthday party. It was lots of fun and Hallee had a great time. We had it at the clubhouse in our townhome complex and we had a bbq and one of those big bouncer things. There were about 40 people there. Hallee having a birthday was really just an excuse for us to have a big party! Thanks Hallee.

Vacation #2

So, I know it was a week ago, but life has been slightly crazy since being home. Anyway, Hallee and I had a really fun trip to Texas to visit grandparents Baillio and friends. We just hadn't seen them in a while and thought we would take a little trip.
We definitely did a lot of shopping

Swimming in a little pool


Visiting Great-grandma and grandpa Redd and celebrating Hallee and Grandma's birthdays


Having a fun birthday party for Hallee, with friends from high school and the ward




And just hanging out and relaxing at home.

It's still not quite Hallee's birthday but mom and dad won't be there for her real birthday so we decided to have a little party for her there. Hallee and I actually got sick while we were there, so we weren't completely our happy-go-lucky selves, but we still had a really fun time. Thanks mom and dad for all the fun!

Four things!

A) Four places that I go over and over and over again

1. Hallee's room

2. My bed...sometimes more than once a day. Being pregnant is exhausting sometimes.

3. Red Robin...Kyle works there

4. The grocery store. I seem to be there way too much. Kind of annoying really.


B) Four people who e-mail me (regularly):

1. My family, mostly dad and mom

2. Random stores with coupons

3. Baby Center baby updates

4. Val in New York


C) Four of my favorite places to eat:

(while pregnant) Mimi's Cafe, Costa Vida, Wingers, Brick Oven....and CPK


D) Four places I would rather be right now:

1. Back in Cali at the beach

2. Back in Texas with Gma and Gpa and warmer weather

3. Shopping

4. Out doing something fun with Kyle and Hallee


E) Four people I want to TaG!

Liz, Tiana, Katie M, and Val


F) Four TV shows I watch over and over


1. House

2. The Office

3. So you Think you Can Dance

4. Last Comic Standing

Vacation time!

SO.....We went on a nice little vacation to Vegas and California!
We had a lot of fun seeing family and friends. The pictures can pretty much explain the trip.
First we went to Vegas and visited Adam, Annjilla, and Anwen.



Celeste and Brooklyn were there for a day too!



Then we went to Malibu to visit Austin and Sarah! We went to the beach, played games, went to dinner, met some of their friends, and had lots of fun! The beach pics were the best of course!

Eating some yummy grilled hamburgers!


Sunscreen hair baby!


Hallee w/ daddy.


Hallee w/ mommy.


I think Hallee looks really pretty here.

Oh, then we went to Venice beach and watched all the crazy people but ate some yummy food.


Then we headed down to San Diego, where we stayed with Kyle's Aunt and Uncle and their family in San Marcos. That was tons of fun too! The first day down there we went to the San Diego Zoo, where we got to see Kyle's favorite animal in the entire world. He was soooo excited, just like a little kid.


We have so many pictures of those panda bears!
Anyway, then we went to a beach in Encinitas with Kyle's old mission buddy and his wife, and this friend, Lance, who is a professional surfer, taught Kyle how to surf! They also brought a baby that Christy (hope I spelled that right) nanny's for, and she's only 2 weeks older than Hallee. So we had a lot of fun there too!




Then we spent some time with Kyle's relatives and drove back to Vegas to spend more time with Adam, Annj, and Anwen. It was a really nice and relaxing trip! And we are happy to be home!